Box manufacturing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for manufacturing boxes. A sheet feeder feeds in succession sheets of predetermined peripheral configuration to a working station where a strip feeder feeds an elongated strip along the periphery of the sheet. After a given length of strip corresponding to the peripheral length of the sheet has been fed to a position next to the edge of the sheet, the strip is cut, and then a fastening unit presses part of the strip against an outer face of the sheet along the peripheral edge thereof while the remainder of the strip extends inwardly beyond the sheet form an endless side of a box. The apparatus and method are particularly suitable for manufacture of heart-shaped boxes.

United States Patent Lippman [4 Feb. 22, 1972 1541 BOX MANUFACTURING APPARATUS [72] Inventor: Gerald Lippman, Oceanside, NY.

[73] Assignee: Thermo-Dielectrlc Machine Co., Inc.

[22] Filed: Mar. 20, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 21,306

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary Examiner-Wayne A. Morse, Jr. Attorney-Hum, Moscovitz, Friedman & Kaplan [57] ABSTRACT A method and apparatus for manufacturing boxes. A sheet feeder feedsin succession sheets of predetermined peripheral configuration to a working station where a strip feeder feeds an elongated strip along the periphery of the sheet. After a given length of strip corresponding to the peripheral length of the sheet has been fed to a position next to the edge of the sheet, the strip is cut, and then a fastening unit presses part of the strip against an outer face of the sheet along the peripheral edge thereof while the remainder of the strip extends inwardly beyond the sheet form an endless side of a box. The apparatus and method are particularly suitable for manufacture of heartshaped boxes.

10 Claims, 25 Drawing Figures PAIENTEmwza I972 3.643 .554

sum 1 or 6 INVENTOR 627% 40 Z/PP/wm ATTORNEYS PAIENTEDFEB22 I972 SHEET 3 BF 6 INVENTOR 5mm Z/PPM4/V BY MM} 4% ATTORNEYS BOX MANUFACTURING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to box-manufacturing methods and apparatus.

In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing boxes of heart-shaped configuration. Such boxes are particularly suitable for containing candy sold during the Valentine season.

It is necessary to manufacture boxes of this type in large numbers, but at the present time the costs involved in the manufacture of such boxes are undesirably high. These high costs result primarily from the fact that a considerable part of the operations performed in connection with the manufacturing of such boxes is carried out manually. Thus, high labor costs are involved at the present time in the manufacture of these boxes, and the need for an automatic apparatus and manufacturing method is great.

Thus, at the presenttime it is possible to achieve separate components which can be made up into a box in a fairly automatic manner. For example, sheets to form the top and bottom walls of a box can be provided in predetennined configurations, and strips to form the sides of the box can also be achieved in the required numbers. However, at the present time the strips which are available in predetermined lengths, are manually joined to the sheets which form the top or bottom of the box, and it is these manual operations in particular which give rise to the undesirably high costs of boxes, particularly heart-shaped boxes, as referred to above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a boxy-manufacturing method and apparatus which will enable the costs of manufacturing to be substantially reduced.

Particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a boxmanufacturing method and apparatus which will enable boxes of the above general type to be manufactured in a manner requiring no manual operations so that because of the fully automatic operations achieved with the invention it is possible to eliminate a considerable part of the labor costs.

It is in particular an object of the present invention to provide a construction which can automatically feed sheets which form the tops or bottoms of the boxes from a supply location to a working station and from the latter to a'delivery location with the sides of the boxes, initially in the form of separate strips, being fastened to the sheets at the working station.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus which enable the requirement of providing strips of predetermined lengths to form the sides of the box to be eliminated.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus capable of providing the sides of the box from strips which are fed continuously from a given source and which are only cut to the required length just prior to being joined to the sheet which will form the top or bottom of the box, so that in this way it becomes unnecessary to keep on hand a large supply of precut strips.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method which are capable of operating with such degree of automation that the only manual operations are required in connection with replenishing the supply of sheets which form the tops and bottoms of the boxes, replenishing a roll or the like from which the strips which form the box sides are derived, and perhaps in some cases removing the completed box components. I

According to the invention the box manufacturing method includes a sheet-feeding means capable of feeding a sheet from a given supply location to a working station and then from the working station to a delivery location. At the working station the sheet-feeding means positions the sheet with an outer face of the sheet exposed. A strip-feeding means feeds an elongated strip to the working station to be positioned along the peripheral edge of the sheet with this peripheral edge situated between opposed side edges of the strip so that the latter has one portion extending outwardly beyond the outer face of the sheetto one side edge of the strip and another portion extending inwardly beyond an inner face of the sheet to the opposed side edge of the strip. A fastening means is provided for pressing the strip at its part which extends outwardly beyond the sheet against the outer face of the latter and fastening the thus-pressed strip against this outer face of the sheet, so that in this -way the sheet and strip cooperate to form either the upper half or the lower half of a box. The strip-feeding means feeds the strip from a continuous supply and a cutting means is provided for cutting the strip when the length which is located along the peripheral edge of strip pressed along one edge region against the outer face of the box and adhered thereto by a suitable adhesive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. I is a fragmentary partly schematic top plan view of one apparatus of the invention for carrying out the method of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic partly fragmentary and partly sectional elevation ofthe apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary partly sectional elevation taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating how a sheet is positioned over the working station;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a sheet-engaging means and die of the invention as seen when looking toward the bottom of this structure;

FIG. 5 is a view, at an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 3, showing a stage in the operations subsequent to that illustrated in FIG. 3, the parts being shown in FIG. 5 just before a strip is fastened to a sheet along the edge of the latter;

FIG. 6 shows the position which the parts assume just subsequent to the position thereof shown in FIG. 5, the structure being shown in FIG. 6 in a position it takes at the working station for fastening a sheet and strip together;

FIG. 7 is a sectional elevation of the structure of FIGS. 5 and 6 showing the position taken by the pans after the operations illustrated in FIG. 6'with a completed box component removed from the working station in preparation for feeding to a delivery location;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional elevation at an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 6 showing the manner in which the strip is folded around an edge of a sheet;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the working station showing also the structure for feeding and cutting a strip;

FIG. 10 illustrates the position which the cutting structure of FIG. 9 assumes upon cutting a trailing end of a strip from the remainder of the strip and fastening this trailing end to a leading end of the strip;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of a structure shown in FIG. 12 for forming a notch in a strip;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary transverse elevation taken along line l2l2 of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows and showing the structure of FIG. 11 in elevation;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary partly sectional elevation taken along line l313 of FIG. 11 in the direction of the arrows and showing a cutting die which forms a notch of predetermined configuration in a strip;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary elevation taken along line 14-44 of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating the manner in which profiling rollers coact to form in the strip with a predetermined profile along one edge region thereof;

FIG. 15 is a transverse sectional elevation taken along line 15-15 of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows and showing the manner in which glue or other adhesive is applied to the strip as it is fed to the edge of a sheet with further profiling rollers being provided to give the strip a predetermined profile;

FIG. 16 shows the leading end of one strip and the trailing end of another strip formed by cutting through the strip with the structure illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 17 illustrates how the ends of a strip are joined together to form a continuous side of a box component;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 18-18 of FIGS. 9 and 21 and illustrating details of the stripfeeding means as well as other components of the structure;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 19-19 of FIGS. 9 and 21 and illustrating how the pairs of strip-feeding rolls are controlled and coact;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary schematic elevation showing how components of FIG. 18 operate in connection with application of glue to a leading end of a strip;

FIG. 21 is a sectional plan view taken along line 21-21 of FIG. 18 in the direction of the arrows and showing in particular the controls for the feeding rolls of the strip-feeding means;

FIG. 22 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 22-22 of FIG. 9 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating details of the cutting means;

FIG. 23 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 23-23 of FIG. 18 in the direction of the arrows and showing further details of the structure for applying glue to a leading end of a strip;

FIG. 24 is a fragmentary top plan view illustrating how the glue applicator of FIG. 23 operates to apply glue to the leading end of a strip; and

FIG. 25 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 25-25 of FIG. 10 in the direction of the arrows and showing how the cutting means acts subsequent to cutting to press the trailing end of a strip against the leading end thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, on a suitable floor or other foundation 30 (FIG. 2) there is a pedestal 32 which carries a double-acting fluid-pressure unit 34 supplied through tubes 36 and suitable controls so that the piston in the cylinder of unit 34 can be raised and lowered. The arrow 38 indicates upward movement of the piston carrying with it the entire standard 40. This standard 40, which forms an extension of the piston rod of the piston unit 34, has a gear 42 coaxially fixed thereto. The teeth of the gear 42 mesh with an elongated pinion 44, the length of which is such that during up and down movement of the standard 40 the gear 42 remains in mesh with the pinion 44. This pinion 44 is turned through a bevel gear assembly 46 driven through the shaft 48 through suitable controls in a manner referred to below, so that it is possible in this way to turn the standard 40 about its axis as well as to raise and lower the standard 40.

The standard 40 fixedly carries elongated arms 50a, 50b, and 500, these arms extending radially in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 1. Thus the arms 50a-50c are separated from each other by equal angular increments.

These arms respectively carry at their outer ends sheet-engaging units 52a, 52b, and 52c. These units are each formed by three suction cups at the outer end portion of each of the radial arms. These arms are respectively formed with conduits or suction bores capable of being placed into or out of communication with a source of suction in a manner described below.

FIG. 4 shows the arm 50a as it appears when looking upwardly at the arm at its downwardly directed surface. As is clear from FIG. 4, the outer end portion of the arm carries the three suction cups 52a all of which communicate with the bore 54 extending through the arm 50a. The other arms are identically constructed.

In addition to a suction structure forming a sheet-engaging unit at the outer end of each arm, each arm carries a fastening means in the form of a hollow die. Thus, the outer ends of the arms 50a-50c respectively carry the dies 56a-56c. As is apparent particularly from FIG. 4, the bottom end surfaces of the die 56a, and of course of the other dies, are of a heartshaped configuration at their inner periphery and these dies have a substantial thickness to accommodate a component such as a heating element 58.

The outer end of each arm, as shown for the arm 50a in FIG. 5, fixedly carries a bolt 60 whichextends upwardly from the arm and which extends through an opening in the top wall of the die such the die 56a shown in FIG. 5. This opening may be circular and the bolt 60 may have a shank of circular cross section so that the die is guided for movement along the shank and is limited in its upward movement by the head 62 of the bolt 60. A coil spring 64 is provided between the arm 50a and the top all of the die to urge the latter upwardly toward the head 62. At opposed regions of its endless sidewall each of the dies is formed with rectangular cutouts 66 through which the arm freely passes as indicated in FIG. 5. As is apparent par ticularly from FIG. 3, where the arm 50b is shown together with the die 56b, these openings 66 also contribute not only to the vertical guiding of the dies but also to preventing rotary movement thereof so that the heart-shaped configurations of the inner peripheries of the bottom surfaces of the dies will remain properly oriented, as will be apparent from the description which follows.

The portion of the standard 40 which extends upwardly beyond the radially extending arms 50a-50c which are fixed thereto terminates in a top end 68 indicated in FIG. 2. Between the arms and the top end 68 of the standard 40 this standard is provided with bores which communicate with the suction bores 54of the several arms. These bores in the standard 40 terminate at the outer surface thereof in a region which turns within a bearing 70 shown in FIG. 2. This bearing 70 is carried by the outer end of an arm 72 of a support 74 fixed on any suitable foundation 76. The bearing 70 is formed in its interior with passages situated between sealing rings 78 which engage the outer surface of the standard 40. These bores communicate with a source of suction through a pipe 80 which may be connected to any suitable source of suction such as a suitable vacuum pump. At its inner surface the bearing 70 has elongated slots and the like communicating with the source of suction 80 and with the bores of the standard 40, which communicate with the bores of the arms 50a-50c, so that through this arrangement it is possible to control the communication of the several suction or sheet-engaging units with and the cutting off of these units from the source of suction in a manner described in greater detail below.

The floor 30 carries an additional pedestal 82 from which a standard 84 rises. This standard 84 has at itstop end a radially extending arm 86 which at its outer end carries a double-acting fluid-pressure piston and cylinder assembly 88 having its piston rod fixed to the die-actuating member 90. The details of the member 90 are clearly apparent from FIGS. 5-7.

In the position of the parts shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unit 52a at the outer end of arm 50a is situated at a supply location over a stack of sheets 92 which are of heart-shaped configuration. The stack of sheets are guided by rods or bars 94 extending upwardly from a support plate 96 mounted on any suitable support 98. The arrangement is such that the uppermost sheet 92 of the stack will always be located at the same elevation. In other words as the sheets are removed one by one from the stack the bottom end of the stack moves up with the remainder of the sheets thereon, and when the sheets are supplied to the stack the upper end of the stack will assume the same elevation. Structures for this purpose are well known, and the purpose of this arrangement will be apparent from the description which follows.

The unit 520 is shown in FIG. 1, as well as FIG. 2 at a discharge location where the communication with the source of suction is cut off so that a completed box component 100 will simply fall from the unit at the delivery location, as indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 2. Any suitable collecting receptacle may be provided beneath the completed components 100,- or they may drop onto a conveyor which carries them to any desired location for further handling.

The arm 50!; is shown in FIG. 1 with its unit located at a working station. As is schematically indicated in FIG. 3, at the working station there is a support plate 102 for supporting one of the sheets 92, and a guide plate 104 which surrounds the support plate 102 and defines a gap 106 with the plate 102. This gap 106 completely surrounds the plate 102. The plate 102 as well as the gap 106 are of heart-shaped configuration, as is particularly apparent from FIG. 9. Moreover, the upper surface of the plate 102 is situated slightly higher than the upper surface of the guide plate 104, as is apparent from FIG. 8

The operation of the structure as thus far described is explained in connection with FIGS. 58. At one point in each cycle of operations the standard 40 is lowered by suitable actuation of the double-acting fluid-pressure assembly 34, and this brings the unit at the sheet-supply location into engagement with the uppermost sheet 92, and since at this time the unit such as the unit 52a of FIG. 1 is in communication with the source of suction, the suction cups will engage the uppermost sheet. At the same time a completed component 100 is dropped in the manner set forth above and shown in FIG. 2 by the unit at the delivery location, inasmuch as when an arm reaches the angular position of the arm 50c of FIG. 1, there is no longer any communication between the suction bores of this arm and the source of suction acting through the pipe 80. However, this source of suction remains in effect at all times except when an arm is in the region of the angular position of the arm 500 which is shown in FIG. 1. Thus, there is situated at the inner surface of the bearing 70 an arcuate bore which remains in communication with the arms of the bore throughout the angular location of these arms at all of the positions except the delivery position shown for the arm 50c, and this arcuate bore also communicates with vertically extending bores to maintain the suction efi'ective during up-anddown movements as referred to below.

The unit 34 after being actuated to lower a unit into engagement with a sheet 92 raises the standard 40 and then the bevel gears 46 are operated so as to turn the standard 40 through 120. The unit 34 is then again actuated to lower the entire assembly, and this will place the unit formerly at the delivery station in a position to pick up the next sheet while the unit which just picked up the sheet is now over the working station. Downward movement of the standard 40 at this time places the sheet at the working station on top of the support plate 102 which is of a heart-shaped configuration conforming to that of the sheet. It is to be noted, however, as is apparent from FIG. 8, that the edge of the sheet 92 extends outwardly beyond the periphery of the support plate 102 across the gap 106.

FIG. 3 shows the am 50b when it has just arrived with its outer end at a location over the support plate 102 at the working station. When the parts have reached the position shown in FIG. 3 the unit 34 is actuated to lower the standard 40, and thus the parts will now reach the position shown in FIG. 5 where in fact the arm 50a is shown at the working station with the sheet 92 carried there by lowered onto the support plate 102.

When the parts have first reached the position shown in FIG. 5, the double-acting fluid-pressure unit 88 is actuated so that the die actuator 90 moves down. In this way the parts will reach the position shown in FIG. 6. It is to be noted that the die actuator 90 has a central hollow region 108 which 'accommodates the top end of the bolt 60 in the manner shown in FIG. 6. The bottom surface of the die, as shown for the die 56a in FIG. 6, will closely approach the sheet 92. The arm 50a remains in the position of FIG. 5.

It is to be noted that after a sheet 92 is deposited on the support plate 102 in the manner shown in FIG. 5 a strip-feeding means referred to below feeds a strip 110 through the gap 106 all around the peripheral edge of the sheet 92, and this strip 110 is profiled in the manner shown in FIG. 5 so that it has an upper portion extending outwardly beyond an outer exposed surface of the sheet 92 all the way up to the upper edge 112 of the strip 110. This upper portion of the strip 110 has previously had a coating of glue applied to its inner surface, so that when the heated die 56a is lowered to the position of FIG. 6 it serves to press the outer portion of the strip against the outer exposed surface of the sheet 92 and fasten the strip thereto, so that the die at the outer end of each arm forms a fastening means for fastening a strip to the sheet 92 to form a box component therewith. This box component may be an outer half of the box where the strip 110 will surround an inner strip extending upwardly from the bottom wall of the box. In order to manufacture the bottom wall of the box, the same structure can be used but it is simply set to provide a somewhat smaller component capable of having its side received within the strip 110 which forms the part of the outer component.

As is apparent from FIG. 8, the fact that the sheet 92 extends outwardly beyond the peripheral edge of the plate 102 enables the upper portion of the strip 110 which initially is profiled as shown in FIG. 5 to extend all around the peripheral edge of the sheet 92 engaging the outer as well as the inner surfaces thereof, and in this way an exceedingly effective attachment of the strip to the sheet 92 is achieved.

After the parts have assumed the position shown in FIG. 6 where the heated bottom end of the die fastens the strip to the sheet 92, the piston of the unit 88 is retracted upwardly so that the spring 64 can expand in order to raise the die 56a to the position shown in FIG. 7. At the same time the unit 34 is actuated to raise the entire standard 40 so that the sheet-engaging means at the outer end of the arm 50a raises the completed unit 100 upwardly away from the support plate 102 to the position shown in FIG. 7. Then, after the parts have reached the position shown in FIG. 7, the controls, which are not illustrated, actuate the bevel gears 46 in order to turn the arms through to the next position, and thus the'completed unit becomes located over the delivery location. Upon reaching this latter location the particular arm moves out of communication with the source of suction so that the completed unit drops as described above. Then the unit 34 is actuated to again lower the entire assembly, thus causing the unit at the supply location to receive the next sheet, while another sheet 92 is now deposited at the working station to be acted upon in a manner described above, so that all of these operations are repeated with a complete cycle taking place after each arm has moved through a full circle. However, since there are three arms, at each turning of the standard 40 through 120 a completed unit is delivered, a new sheet 92 is taken up, and a second sheet 92 is situated at the working station.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 18, it will be seen that the support plate 102 is supported on spacers 114 which receive pins 116 fixed to and extending downwardly from the support plate 102. These spacers 114 are in turn fixed to and extend upwardly from a baseplate 118. The outer guide plate 104 can also be supported through suitable spacers in the same way at the required elevation above the base plate 118.

The plate 102 has the heart-shaped configuration clearly apparent from FIG. 9. At the region of the apex of the heart, the plate 102 is formed with a slot 120 shown most clearly at the upper left portion of FIG. 18, and this slot 120 receives the upper end of an elongated shaping plate 122 actuated by a solenoid 124 and having a front edge 126 which serves to provide the strip 110 with a sharp point at the apex of the heartshaped box, the strip 110 being backed up by a backup die 128 fixed to the guide plate 104 and extending downwardly therefrom in a manner shown at the upper left portion of FIG. 18. Thus, when the strip has been situated around the peripheral edge of the sheet 92 the solenoid 124 is energized to drive the plate 122 forwardly so that its tip 126 will provide for the strip a sharp fold line at the region of the apex of the heart.

The gap which is defined between the guide plate 104 and the support plate 102 communicates at the rear portion of the heart with a free space 130 through which a cutting end of a rotary cutter 132 may swing, this cutter being actuated by the rotary solenoid 134 in a manner described in greater detail below. Also, it is through the space 130 that the strip 110 is fed by the strip feeding means to the gap 106 to advance therealong until the leading edge 136 of the strip reaches the position indicated in FIG. 9. The strip-feeding means includes the series of feed rollers 138 as well as feed rollers 140 referred to below, and additional feedv rollers referred to below and engaging the strip before they reach the rollers 138 indicated in FIG. 9.

The strip 1 10 is taken from any suitable supply roll in a continuous manner. The supply roll is not shown, but the strip 1 10 as it is withdrawn therefrom moves downwardly toward the left from the upper right portion of FIG. 9. Of course, actually the strip moves horizontally in the direction indicated in FIG. 9. The strip will first be engaged by a pair of rollers 131 and 133 of the strip-feeding means, these rollers being shown best in FIG. 14. As is apparent from FIG. 14 the rollers 131 and 133 in addition to serving to feed the strip also function as profiling rollers and serve to give the strip the configuration indicated in FIG. 14 along the upper region of the strip where it is engaged and pressed against by the feed rollers 131 and 133. As is also apparent from FIG. 14, the baseplate 118 supports for rotary movement the step shafts 135 and 137 to which the rollers 131 and 133 are fixed. Beneath the baseplate 118 the shaft 135 fixedly carries a sprocket wheel 139 driven from any suitable chain. The shaft 135 fixedly carries a gear 142 which measures with a gear 144 fixed to the shaft 137 so that in this way the pair of profiling and feeding rollers 131 and 133 are simultaneously rotated in opposite directions to feed the strip toward the working station where the guide plate 104 is situated over the baseplate 118 as pointed out above.

Just prior to the feed rollers 131 and 133, the baseplate 118 carries, as shown particularly in FIG. 12, and as is illustrated in the plan view of FIG. 11, a freely rotatable anvil roller 146 and a rotary, cutter-carrying roller 148. This roller 148 fixedly carries at its exterior periphery a notching die 150. This die 150 has the configuration most clearly apparent from FIG. 13 to I provide in the strip 110 a notch having the configuration apparent from FIG. 13 as well as from FIG. 16. The anvil roller 146 is simply supported for free rotary movement on a shaft carried by the baseplate 118. However, the cuttercarrying roller 148 is carried by a one-revolution clutch unit 152. The sprocket chain which is beneath the baseplate 118 drives a sprocket 153 which continuously transmits rotation to the clutch 152, and when the latter is energized the rotation is transmitted for one revolution only to the roller 148. The die 150 initially has the position shown in dot-dash lines at the left in FIG. 11. When the clutch is energized through any suitable controls which are not illustrated the roller 148 will turn through revolution notching out an upper portion of the strip 110 in the manner apparent from FIGS. 13 and 16. Of course the controls will bring about this notching operation ,at precisely the right moment. Thus, the distance from one notch to the next along with the strip will correspond to the length of strip which is required to extend along the peripheral edge of sheet 92.

It is to be noted that the strip 110 moves to the right as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 13. FIG. 13 also shows a dotted line 154. It is along this line that the cutter 132 cuts across the strip so as to provide for the strip the trailing end 156 and the leading end 158 apparent in FIG. 16. Thus FIG. 16 shows the trailing end 156 of one strip and the leading end 158 of the next-following strip 110. Also FIG. 16 shows an area of glue 160 which is applied to the leading end of each strip. In the operations which are performed by the machine the trailing end 156 is applied to the glue 160 in the manner shown in FIG. 17 so that in this way the ends of this strip are fastened together along the peripheral edge of the sheet 92.

Between the feed rollers 131, 133 and 138, 138 indicated in FIG. 9 are a pair of additional feeding and profiling rollers 162 and 164 which continue the profiling of the strip 110 in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 15. These rollers, however, are not driven and are simply supported for free rotary movement on the baseplate 118 in a manner shown in FIG. 15. It will be noted that at this location the baseplate 118 has a configuration enabling it to support also for rotary movement an inclined glue-transferring disc 166. This disc extends at its lower edge into a reservoir 168 containing a liquid adhesive, and if desired suitable heating elements may be provided to maintain the adhesive in liquid form. This adhesive 170 is transferred by the rotary disc 166 to the periphery of the profiling roller 164 in a manner most clearly apparent from FIGS. 9 and 15.

The disc 166 is carried by a shaft 172 supported for rotary movement in the bearing 174 in the manner shown in FIG. 15 and driven by way of a gear drive 176. Beneath the disc 166 is a return plate 178 onto which excess adhesive drips to run back down into the reservoir 168. Thus, with this arrangement not only is the profiling of the strip continued by the rollers 162 and 164, but in addition the roller I64 serves to apply to the inner surface of the strip at its upper profiled region a layer of a suitable adhesive material.

As the strip 110 is fed beyond the rolls 162 and'164 it enters into a gap defined between the guide plate 104 and a rear plate 180 which is supported on the baseplate 1 18 through any suitable spacers 182. Thus, the gap between the plates-18,0 and 104 receives the strip 1 10 which passes between the feed rollers 138 one of which is driven in any suitable way as from the same sprocket chain which drives the roll 131 and which engages a sprocketwheel on the shaft which carries the roll 138 which is beneath the plate 180. In this way the strip reaches the space referred to above.

The strip 110 moves directly through the space 130 to be received in the first of the pair of feed rolls which function to continue the feeding of the strip 110 along the heart-shaped gap 106 defined between the support plate 102 and the guide plate 104, as pointed out above and illustrated most clearly in FIG. 8.

As the strip advances along the gap 106 it engages successive pairs of feed rolls 140 until the leading end 158 of the strip reaches the location 136 indicated in FIG. 9. At this point the support plate102 may be provided with a notched or shouldered edge portion 184, and the depth of this shoulder is equal to the thickness of the material used for the strip 110. The several feed rollers 140 are all of substantially the same size, with the exception of the pair of inner feed rollers located at the region of the crest of the heart, shown at the lower part of FIG. 9. These particular feed rollers 186 are of a smaller size so that they can be readily accommodated at the crest region, as is apparent from FIG. 9; FIG. 18 shows at its upper left portion the pair of rollers 140 and 186 which are situated just to one side of the blade 122, and of course an identical pair of rollers 140' and 186 are situated at the other sideof the blade. All of the outer rollers 140 are driven by a common rotary sprocket chain 18 8meshin'g with a series of sprockets 190, one of which is shown at the lower left of FIG. 18. The sprocket is driven by a driving sprocket 192 shown at the right of FIG. 18, this sprocket being fixed to a rotary shaft 194 which extends downwardly from the baseplate 118 and which is driven by a bevel drive 196 from a motor 198 indicated in FIG. 21. This motor 198 drives the bevel gears 196 through a brake assembly 200 which is electrically actuated in a manner described below to bring about a termination of the feeding operations during predetermined intervals.

While the strip is in the position indicated in FIG. 9, which is to say prior to cutting the trailing end of one strip along the line 154 of FIG. 13, the adhesive is applied at the area to the leading end of the strip while it is in the region of the shoulder 184 as shown in FIG. 9. For this purpose structure shown in FIGS. 18, 20, 23, and 24 is provided. This structure includes the resilient spongy type of glue applicator block 202 carried at the upper end of the arm 204 which extends up from a horizontal pin 206 guided for vertical movement between a pair of vertical stationary guide elements 208. As is particularly apparent from FIG. 23, these elements 208 are in the form of webs or flanges of angle irons fixedly carried by any suitable stationary support structure 210.

The free end of the pin 206 which is distant from the space between the guides 208 is received in an elongated slot 212 of a bellcrank 214 supported for swinging movement on a stationary pin 2l6 carried by any suitable stationary bracket 218. The bellcrank is pivotally connected distant from the pin 206 to a link 220 which is in turn pivotally connected to a bracket 222 at the outer end of a piston rod 224 of a pneumatic or hydraulic piston-and-cylinder assembly 226 which is suitably actuated to reciprocate the rod 224 and thus bring about operation of these components at the proper time.

It is to be noted that the bevel gear drive 196, in addition to driving the chain and sprockets which bring about the feeding of the strip by the strip-feeding means, serves to drive a bevel gear 228 which through a belt and pulley assembly 230 drives a rotary glue transferring roll 232 which takes a layer of glue out of the bath 234 of the reservoir 236 which is carried by the stationary bracket 238 fixed to and extending downwardly from the baseplate 118. This glue is transferred from the roll 232 by transfer rolls 240 and 242. When the rod 224 is moved to the left, as viewed in FIG. 18, the bellcrank 214 swings in a counterclockwise direction around the pin 216 to the dot-dash line position, thus raising the pin 206 between the guides 208. A spring 244 is connected at one end to the arm 204 and at its opposite end to a vertical cam 246 which is adjustably fixed to and extends down from the baseplate 118 in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 18. The arm 204 carries a cam-follower roller 248. Thus, as the lever 214 swings in a manner indicated in FIG. 18, the arm 204 is raised to cause the pad or block 202 to receive a layer of glue from the transfer roll 242. At the same time the cam roller 248 rides upwardly along the cam 246 until it reaches the inclined portion 250 thereof. As the roller 248 rides along the inclined portion 250 the arm 204 is swung in a counterclockwise direction about the pin 206 so that the block 202 is advanced to the left, as viewed in FIG. 18. During its upward movement the upper end of the arm 204 and the block 202 therewith moves upwardly through an elongated slot 252 which is formed in the baseplate 118. At its uppermost and forwardmost position the block 202 engages the leading end of the strip 110, pressing it into the corner of the heart which is opposite its apex, and at this time the parts will have the position shown most clearly in FIG. 24. In this way the area of adhesive 160 is applied to the leading end of the strip. The parts of course return to their initial position when the rod 224 returns to the position thereof indicated in FIG. 18.

It is at this time that the rotary solenoid 134 is actuated to swing the blade 132 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 9. It will be noted from FIG. 9 that the blade 132 is curved so as to clear the outer one of the pair of rollers 140 which is visible in FIG. 22. FIG. 22 illustrates the manner in which the rotary solenoid 134 is fixed to and extending downwardly from the baseplate 118. The blade 132 is fixed by a setscrew or the like to the top end of the rod of the solenoid which turns first in a cutting direction and then in a return direction. The plate 118 carries a slide block 254 on which the blade 132 is supported for free-sliding movement. The cutting edge 256 of the rotary blade 132 coacts with a stationary cutting blade member 258 so that the stationary and moving blades provide the cutting action required to cut the strip along the line 154 indicated in FIG. 13.

It will be noted that the cutter 132 in addition to cutting across the strip in the manner shown in FIGS. 13 and 16 and described above, serves to advance the trailing end of the thus-cut strip up to the heart-shaped support plate 102. This action is illustrated most clearly in FIG. where the blade 132 is shown at the end of its stroke. It will be noted that the curvature of the end of the blade 132 which engages the trailing end region of the strip conforms to the curvature of the support plate 102. Thus it is the free end face of the blade 132 which itself serves to press the trailing end of the strip against the glue area 160 so as to fasten the ends of the strip together in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 17 as well as FIG. 10. Of course, the glue-applying pad 202 has been retracted back down below the plate 118 before the cutting action illustrated in FIG. 10 takes place.

It is after the blade 132 is retracted back to its rest position so that the leading and trailing ends of a strip are connected to each other that the dies 56a-56b operate in a manner described above in connection with FIGS. 4-8. Thus when the operations shown in FIGS. 4-8 take place the ends of the strip have already been connected to each other, there is a layer of glue along the inner upper edge region of the strip 110, and thus when the fastening means formed by the dies takes the position shown in FIG. 8 the strip will be reliably adhered to the sheet 92. I

It is to be noted that during this part of the operations the pairs of strip-feeding rolls 140 of the strip-feeding means all remain in engagement with the strip. However, after the fastening of the operations have been completed so that the die-actuating component is raised and the particular die at the working station also is raised by the spring 64, it is necessary for the sheet-engaging means at the outer end of the arm at the working station to raise the completed component from the position shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 to the position shown in FIG. 7. This will require release of the strip from the feed rolls of the strip-feeding means. For this purpose the inner feed rolls and of course the smaller rolls 186 are retracted inwardly away from the strip so as to release the latter for movement upwardly through the guide slot or gap 106 when the arms are raised in the manner described above in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2.

Thus, referring to FIGS. 9, 21, 18 and 19, in particular, it will be seen that the baseplate 118 supports in a recess in its top wall a rotary cam 260. The central stub shaft which is fixed to the cam is supported in a bore of the plate 118 and below the latter is concentrically fixed with a pinion 262 which meshes with a rack 264 actuated in any suitable way as by a hydraulic assembly 266. Thus when the rack 264 is advanced to the left, as viewed in FIG. 21, the cam 260 will turn in a clockwise direction, while when the rack is retracted to the right, as viewed in FIG. 21, the cam 260 will turn in a counterclockwise direction. This cam has at its upper peripheral region a series of relatively short camming grooves 268 which in the position shown in FIG. 21 act to hold the inner rollers of the strip-feeding means in a position engaging the strip 110. Thus it will be noted that these grooves 268 receive pins 270 respectively fixed to the inner ends of elongated arms 272 the outer ends of which terminate in circular rings through which shafts fixed to the inner gears 274 extend. It is these gears 274 which mesh with the gears 276 which are driven from the sprocket and chain drive and which serve to drive the outer feed rollers 140. It will be noted particularly from FIG. 19 that these outer feed rollers are of a relatively soft rubber so that they are compressible, and the same is true of the inner feed rollers. The teeth of the gears 274 and 276 are of sufficiently great radial length to maintain these teeth meshing with each other even though the inner feed rollers are retracted away from the outer feed rollers. This retraction is brought about by turning of the cam 260 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 21. This angular turning of the cam 260 will cause the inner end regions of the camming grooves 268 to pull the rods 272 inwardly toward the center of the cam. The shafts which carry the gears 274 are guided for movement along radially extending slots 278 which are formed in the plates 102 and 118, as shown most clearly in FIG. 19. Thus, these slots are long enough to provide for the required radial retraction of the inner rollers away from the outer rollers, thus releasing the strip 110 so that the completed component 100 can be raised up to the position shown in FIGS. 7, just prior to swinging of the arms so as to bring the completed component to the delivery location. Of course when a new strip is to be introduced during the next cycle the cam 260 is returned to the position shown in FIG. 21 so that the inner feed rollers will be displaced radially away from the cam to press against the strip.

It is to be noted that the arm 282 at the region of the crest of the heart is constructed differently and has a pair of branches 284 coacting with gears 286, so that in this way the drive can be transmitted in the relatively small space where the feed rollers are accommodated at the region of the crest of the heart.

FIG. 21 shows a microswitch 290. As the leading end 158 of the strip 110 approaches the position indicated at the location 136 in FIG. 9, this leading end of the strip engages and actu ates the microswitch 290, so as to energize the brake 200and stop the operation of the strip-feeding means when the leading end of the strip reaches the location indicated in FIG. 9.

FIG. 25 illustrates the position which the cutting end of the cutter 132 assumes when it has the position indicated in FIG. 10. Thus the manner in which the ends of the strip fasten to each other is particularly apparent from FIG. 25 which also indicates the slot 252 in baseplate 1 18.

Of course the various controls are not illustrated, beyond such controls as the microswitch 290. Any suitable cam shaft, for example, may be provided with suitably shaped. cams which will actuate switches or the like or which ,will act through mechanical transmissions so as to bring about the required operation of valves of hydraulic or pneumatic assemblies or the energizing or deenergizing of suitable solenoids to provide for the required operations in a manner described above. Briefly, one cycle of operation will include feeding of the leading end of a strip until it reaches the position indicated at 136 in FIG. 9. At this time the strip has the glue applied to its upper inner region which has been profiled in the manner described above. Of course at this time the sheet92 is held at the working station in the manner indicated in FIG. 5. After the glue has been applied to the area 160 as described above the cutter 132 is actuated to fasten the ends of the strip together in a manner shown most clearly in FIG. 17. Then the die-actuating component 90 is actuated to move down to the position shown in FIG. 6, bringing about the fastening operations. The component 90 is then retracted back up to its initial position releasing the die, and then the unit 34 is actuated to raise the arms, thus raising the completed component to the position shown in FIG. 7. However, just before these operations take place the rack 264 is actuated to turn the cam so as to retract the inner feed rollers away from the outer feed rollers so that the strip-feeding means will now be in a release position releasing the strip so that component 100 can be raised to the position indicated in FIG. 7. Then the arms are of course swung through 120 to locate the completed component at the delivery location and to locate a new sheet 92 at the working station, and now the arms are lowered so that all of the above operations are again repeated. Through this simple structure which operates very reliably it is possible to achieve a large output of perfectly manufactured boxes of heart-shaped configuration. It is particularly boxes of this latter configuration which has proved to be difficult to manufacture. Such complications as precutting of suitable strips of suitable lengths and manual fastening thereof to the sheets are completely avoided with the method and apparatus of the invention.

It is furthermore to be noted that it is only required to replace plates I02 and 104 by plates of slightly different sizes to manufacture the other component which coacts with the box component 100 shown in the drawings. Thus, assuming that this component 100 shown in the drawings forms the top wall and outer side of a box, then the bottom wall and inner side thereof will be formed in precisely the sameway with components 102 and 104 which provide a gap 106 of a slightly smaller size. Because of the fact that the feed rollers 140 are made of a soft rubber that easily accommodate themselves to the slightly different sizes of the box components. In this simple way it it possible with the structure of the invention to make both components of a box, so that the completed box can be very quickly and inexpensively manufactured with the structure of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a box-manufacturing apparatus, sheet-feeding means for feeding to a working station a sheet, having outer and inner faces and a peripheral edge of predetermined configuration,

and for positioning said sheet at said working station with said outer face of said sheet exposed, strip-feeding means for feeding to the working station a strip which extends at the working station along the peripheral edge of the sheet with the latter edge situated between opposed side edges of said strip and said strip having an outer portion extending outwardly beyond said outer face of said sheet to one of said side edges of said strip and an inner portion extending inwardly beyond said inner face of said sheet to an opposed side edge of said strip, and fastening means for pressing said outer portion of said strip against said outer face of said sheet along the peripheral edge thereof while fastening said strip to said sheet, said sheetfeeding means coacting with said sheet for then feeding said sheet with the strip fastened thereto away from said working station so that said sheet and strip fastened thereto will form one component of a box.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said working station includes a stationary support plate conforming to the configuration of said sheet and engaging the latter at its inner face when said sheet-feeding means positions said sheet at the working station with its outer face exposed, said working station having a guide plate surrounding said support plate and defining with the latter a gap along which said strip is fed by said strip-feeding means to be situated along the peripheral edge of said sheet.

3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said fastening means includes a die which engages said outer portion of said strip to press said outer strip portion against the outer face of said sheet.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein an adhesive-applying means coacts with the strip for applying thereto a layer of adhesive which will become located between the outer face of said sheet and said outer portion of said strip when said outer strip portion is pressed against said sheet by said die.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said strip-feeding means feeds along the peripheral edge of said sheet a strip which extends without interruption fromsaid sheet to a given source from which the strip is withdrawn by said strip-feeding means, said strip-feeding means automatically terminating the feeding of the strip when a leading end of the latter reaches a given location along the peripheral edge of said sheet, and cutting means for cutting across the strip to provide for the latter a trailing end to be joined to the leading end for providing an uninterrupted strip extending along the peripheral edge of said sheet, said cutting means when fon'ning the trailing end of the strip applied to the sheet simultaneously forming the leading end of the next strip which is to be applied to the next sheet.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said sheet-feeding means feeds the sheets one at a time from a stack at a supply location and delivers the sheet with the strip fastened thereto to a delivery location, said sheet-feeding means including three arms distributed equidistantly about and extending radially from a given axis, and said arms all having ends carrying sheet-engaging units, said sheet-engaging units, said sheet-feeding means including a rotating means for rotating the arms about said axis through increments transferring a sheet from the supply location to the working station and from the working station to the delivery location, the units at the ends of said arms functioning simultaneously to take a sheet from a supply location, to position a sheet at the working station, and to deliver a sheet at the delivery location, while each unit operates first to take a sheet from the supply location, then to locatethe latter sheet at the working station, and finally to deliver the sheet with the strip fastened thereto at the delivery location.

7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said peripheral edge of said sheet has a heart-shaped configuration.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein a die is situated at the apex of the heart-shaped configuration for providing the strip with a sharp comer at said apex.

9. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said sheet extends outwardly beyond said support plate over said gap, and

10. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said units at the outer ends of said arms include suction components for holding a sheet in engagement with said units until the suction is released, and means for releasing the suction at each unit when it becomes located at the delivery location. 

1. In a box-manufacturing apparatus, sheet-feeding means for feeding to a working station a sheet, having outer and inner faces and a peripheral edge of predetermined configuration, and for positioning said sheet at said working station with said outer face of said sheet exposed, strip-feeding means for feeding to the working station a strip which extends at the working station along the peripheral edge of the sheet with the latter edge situated between opposed side edges of said strip and said strip having an outer portion extending outwardly beyond said outer face of said sheet to one of said side edges of said strip and an inner portion extending inwardly beyond said inner face of said sheet to an opposed side edge of said strip, and fastening means for pressing said outer portion of said strip against said outer face of said sheet along the peripheral edge thereof while fastening said strip to said sheet, said sheet-feeding means coacting with said sheet for then feeding said sheet with the strip fastened thereto away from said working station so that said sheet and strip fastened thereto will form one component of a box.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said working station includes a stationary support plate conforming to the configuration of said sheet and engaging the latter at its inner face when said sheet-feeding means positions said sheet at the working station with its outer face exposed, said working station having a guide plate surrounding said support plate and defining with the latter a gap along which said strip is fed by said strip-feeding means to be situated along the peripheral edge of said sheet.
 3. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said fastening means includes a die which engages said outer portion of said strip to press said outer strip portion against the outer face of said sheet.
 4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein an adhesive-applying means coacts with the strip for applying thereto a layer of adhesive which will become located between the outer face of said sheet and said outer portion of said strip when said outer strip portion is pressed against said sheet by said die.
 5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said strip-feeding means feeds along the peripheral edge of said sheet a strip which extends without interruption from said sheet to a given source from which the strip is withdrawn by said strip-feeding means, said strip-feeding means automatically terminating the feeding of the strip when a leading end of the latter reaches a given location along the peripheral edge of said sheet, and cutting means for cutting across the strip to provide for the latter a trailing end to be joined to the leading end for providing an uninterrupted strip extending along the peripheral edge of said sheet, said cutting means when forming the trailing end of the strip applied to the sheet simultaneously forming the leading end of the next strip which is to be applied to the next sheet.
 6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said sheet-feeding means feeds the sheets one at a time from a stack at a supply location and delivers the sheet with the strip fastened thereto to a deliverY location, said sheet-feeding means including three arms distributed equidistantly about and extending radially from a given axis, and said arms all having ends carrying sheet-engaging units, said sheet-engaging units, said sheet-feeding means including a rotating means for rotating the arms about said axis through increments transferring a sheet from the supply location to the working station and from the working station to the delivery location, the units at the ends of said arms functioning simultaneously to take a sheet from a supply location, to position a sheet at the working station, and to deliver a sheet at the delivery location, while each unit operates first to take a sheet from the supply location, then to locate the latter sheet at the working station, and finally to deliver the sheet with the strip fastened thereto at the delivery location.
 7. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said peripheral edge of said sheet has a heart-shaped configuration.
 8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein a die is situated at the apex of the heart-shaped configuration for providing the strip with a sharp corner at said apex.
 9. The combination of claim 2 and wherein said sheet extends outwardly beyond said support plate over said gap, and said support plate having a sheet-engaging surface displaced from a corresponding surface of said guide plate by a distance equal at least approximately to the thickness of said strip, so that when the latter is fastened to said sheet said strip will extend around the outer peripheral edge of said sheet to engage both the outer and the inner faces thereof.
 10. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said units at the outer ends of said arms include suction components for holding a sheet in engagement with said units until the suction is released, and means for releasing the suction at each unit when it becomes located at the delivery location. 